Man Found Guilty In Racial Incident

A Hollywood man was found guilty on Tuesday of shouting racial slurs and making threats to prevent a black woman from moving into the house next door.

As a result, James Tribble, 53, who lives in the 1400 block of North 67th Terrace, faces as long as one year in prison and as much as $1,000 in fines.

He was convicted in federal court in Fort Lauderdale of violating a little- used section of the federal Fair Housing Act, which outlaws attempted intimidation based on the race of prospective home buyers.

``We can`t tell people they can`t think racist thoughts or speak racist thoughts, but (Tribble) went one step beyond that,`` said Assistant U.S. Attorney Dan Gelber. ``This man is a bully and coward, and what he has done is a crime.``

U.S. Magistrate Lurana Snow, at the conclusion of the non-jury trial, agreed and commended the Hollywood Police Department for its role in investigating the case. She set sentencing for May 22.

Tribble remains free on bond.

Tribble was indicted in June for threatening a Hollywood police officer who was investigating allegations of racial intimidation. The allegations were made by a real estate agent who had just shown the home adjacent to Tribble`s to a Haitian woman.

The Haitian woman was interested in buying. But later that day, on May 1, the real estate agent received a message on her telephone answering machine.

The message used a derogatory term for blacks and suggested residents of the neighborhood were upset at the prospect of a black family moving in.

``They`re not going to be very happy whatsoever if one does move in and neither will you,`` the message said in part.

The real estate agent took it as a threat and contacted police.

Detective Chad Wagner testified he went to the neighborhood the next day to try to discuss the issue with neighborhood residents. But when he began to question Tribble in his front lawn, the 53-year-old cement finisher began shouting.

Wagner said Tribble admitted he left the telephone message. He repeated the derogatory term for blacks and added another for Hispanics while informing the detective that no non-whites would move into his neighborhood. He suggested that if the officer, who is white, was so fond of blacks and Hispanics that they should live next to him.

The shouting continued with Tribble warning the police officer that he might need to call on his portable radio for backup.

``You`d better use that radio because you are going to need paramedics when I`m done with you,`` Wagner quoted Tribble as saying.

Tribble`s attorney, Ron L. Baum of Fort Lauderdale, said the five-minute confrontation between Wagner and Tribble had been blown out of proportion. ``This is not a civil rights case,`` he said.

He said the officer exaggerated Tribble`s actions. He said if Wagner had ever believed he was seriously threatened, he would have radioed for backup or drawn his gun.

Baum noted that after the confrontation, no further threats had been received and that an Hispanic family eventually moved into the house next door without incident.